For some people, the future of copyright law is here, and it looks a lot like Gilberto Gil.

The Brazilian singer-songwriter plans to release a groundbreaking CD this winter, which will include three of his biggest hits from the 1970s. It isn't the content of the disc that makes it so novel, though -- it's the copyright notice that will accompany it.

Instead of the standard "all rights reserved," the notice will explicitly allow users of the CD to work the music into their own material. "You are free... to make derivative works," the notice will state in part. That's a significant departure from the standard copyright notice, which forbids such use of creative material and requires a legal agreement to be worked out for any exceptions.

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A Creative Commons license isn't for everyone. It might appeal to independent artists for whom free samples, distributed online, might represent an attractive marketing option, or for someone like Mr. Gil, who believes that making it easier to share and reshape his music can be an important part of the creative process. But it's unlikely to appeal to the big media companies, for which copyrighted material is what they sell.

Still, Mr. Gil, who is also Brazil's culture minister, sees Creative Commons as a way to unlock the creative potential of digital technology.

"I'm doing it as an artist," he says. "But our ministry has been following the process and getting interested in supporting projects concerning free use," not only for music, but also for creative content in general.